The present invention relates to fluid control and in particular to liquid-liquid mixtures.
Liquid-liquid mixers have been used by such diverse groups as the chemical process industries and by home owners in dispensing liquid fertilizer. In general the systems heretofore available are directed toward producing constant liquid-liquid volume ratios, see for example U.S. Pat. No. 3,188,055. In chemical process industries where liquid streams are proportionately mixed, deviations in constant liquid-liquid ratios occur due to the valve and nozzle flow characteristics controlling the streams or due to pressure deviations in the regulating valves. In these systems the pressure proportionate band is inherently fixed to the pressure of the primary liquid to which one or more liquids are to be mixed as well as the mass of the liquids flowing.
A problem exists in the utilization of the mixtures of certain liquid fuels, such as synthetic or biomass fuels and fuel oils, which are to be used in existing energy systems such as boilers and engines. In these cases the stagnation pressure and/or mass flow of the fuels is modulated depending on load demands. In order to operate these energy systems efficiently, and in order to maintain or extend the range of the operating characteristics of these systems as well as to optimize the performance of these systems while utilizing fuel mixtures, the liquid-liquid mixture ratios must be varied according to the operating characteristics of the energy devices. As a result, a need has arisen for an improved liquid-liquid mixing device capable of providing liquid mixtures in any predetermined proportions (within determined limits) while both the stagnation pressure and mass flow of the primary liquid are varying.
In view of the above, it is the principal object of the present invention to provide an improved mixing process and mixing device for attaining the above result.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a process and apparatus which can be completely passive and requires no external power or signal source.
Another object of this invention is to be able to inject a secondary liquid at low stagnation pressure into a primary liquid at high stagnation pressure.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a process and apparatus which can be incorporated into existing vehicles or power plants with a minimum of downtime or expense.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide an active means to adjust the stagnation pressures of the secondary liquids such that a completely arbitrary metering-mixing ratio schedule is achieved with varying mass flow and/or stagnation pressure of the primary liquid.